Electric-railway rail-bond.



Patented 1u|y l, |902. aP. FREDERICK. ELECTRIC RAILWAY BAILBOND.

(Application led Mar. 20, 1902.)

IND, 703,779.

(No Modem x La; w f

UNITED STATE EDWARD P. FREDERICK, or ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR or `ONE-IjD-ILE rro JAMES D. IIOUSEMAN, OE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY RAIL-BOND.

sPEoIEIcAzrIoN fol-ming part of Letters Patent No. 703,779, dated July .1', 1902( Application tiled March 20, 1902. SerialNo. 99,105. (No mncleL.

To @ZZ zul/2,0m, t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. FREDERICK, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsA in Electric-Railway Rail-Bonds, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being' had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this xo specification. I

My invention relates to a rail-bond adapted for Vuse in spanning the gap between abutting sections ofA railway-tracks to provide for the passage of electric currentfrom one rail to another.

Myinvention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Rail-bonds of the nature to which my inzo vention relates as heretofore constructed have most comm/only been of wire and had their terminals attached to the rail beneath the fishplates that united the rails, making it a diflicult matter to replace them with new ones from time to time as necessity demanded or to repair them when-necessary, owing to the" requirement of removing the fish-plate to obtain access to the bond.` Another objection to a bond so concealed has been the difficulty 3o of determining the condition ofthe bond and the fact of whether a leakage of' current ex-v isted or not or whetherth'erev was non-contact of the terminals with the rail, a difficulty that has resulted in great annoyance,- expense, labor, and loss of current and time upon all electric railways equipped with vthe ordinary wire bond. there is a constant tendency of thebonds to become loosened and imperfect contact occa- 40 sioned from time to time by reason of vibration and expansion andcontraction of the rails, and for this reason it is of the utmost importance that a bond be used that may be readily applied or removed and readily tightcned to the rails to secure perfect contact when it may become imperfectl and also lto provide a construction. of bond ,wherein all of the contacting surfaces throughout the bond and 'its terminal attachments-to the 5o rails will be as perfectas possible.

It is the object of my invention to provide come.

In all railway tracks a bond in which such featureswill be embodied and in which the objectionable features of thevold forms ofbondswillbe over- Figure I is a side view'of a pair Of-railwayrails with one Ofnnyimproved`bndsapplied` thereto Iand shown partly in longitudinal-vertical section: Figll is a top or 4planfviewof the rails and bond, shown partially'in hori- 6o zontal longitudinal section.` Fig. III'is a perspective view of'one of the terminal'sockets of'my bond. Fig. IV is a cross-sectional view taken on lineIV IV, Fig.v III. IFig. V-is a perspective viewofone of' the bushings inter- 65 posed between therailway-rails landtheterininal couplings. Fig. VI is a detail view of oneof thestrand'conductors. FigLVIIiSa'sectional View of a modification ofthe terminal couplings and bushings. Fig.l VIII is a per- 7o speotive 'View of the washerjusedv upon the bushingshown in the-modified construction A in 'Fig.- VII. i

A A designate two'meetingv vrailway-rails joined by fish-plates lB,.containing bolts' C. 75 In-the webs of the rails A are orilicesI, preferablytapered, as Seen in Figs. II and VII. 2 designateswire-strand conductorsfprefyerablyhaving a central core vof 'one or Inore copper wires and encircled by aseries of iron 8o' wires,'thereby providing the proper conducting qualities for* the electric current and Ilexibility and elasticityin the'bon'dat a less cost than in the use of a strand; of copper wires alone. 4 The conductors "=may, however, be 85 Composed entirely .of copperor'iron or any other suitable material. p V

'4: designatesterminal couplings lprovided with chambers 5, in which theterminals of the conductors2 are located, as seen infFig's. I and 9o II, the terminal (wires of the conductors being sp'ieadwithin 'said couplings'and-being einbe'dded-'in a filling` 6, of soft metal, such-as balobitt,I that is introduced thereinto in a moltencondition. I In the rear offeachfterminal coupling il is a pocket '7, vth'at'has communicationjw'ith the terminal receiving-ehaiiiber 5, and in the forward side ofy each socke'tarea series of pockets 8, that havecom'munication with the chamber The vpockets `7la`nd 8 loc are all adapted to receive .the sottmetal introduced into the terminalcouplings, and in posed between the terminal couplings, thethem the soft metal is ldesigned to shrink, by reason of the chilling action upon such metal being greater in the walls of the sockets than it is in the interior ofthe chamber 5. By reason of such shrinkage in the pockets the soft metal is 'drawn into close `contact with the inside of the coupling-Walls to prevent `the formation of crevices or spaces between the soft metal and the insides of saidwalls when the soft-metal filling 6 is introduced, thereby producing a close contact between the walls o f the couplings and the soft metal within the chamber 5, that will provide perfect circuit-way from the conductor into the terminal couplings.

aperture 10, preferably tapered, as shown in Fig. II.

ll designates bushings, of soft metal, preferably copper or aluminium, that are intertwo ends of which are preferably tapered, as

seen in Figs. IIand V, to fit the orifices l in.

' to the abutting rails.

rail-webs and serve as fasteners to tightly secure said parts to the railway-rails and provide the 'close-iitting connection whereby is provided efticientpassageV of electric current from the rails to the conductors and therefrom p By the use of the bolts 13 and nuts therein Iam enabled to draw the terminal couplings much more tightly to the rails than is permissible in the use of riveted connections, the tendency of which is to loosenthe connection the more the riveting process is continued.

In Figs. VII'and VIII, I have shown a Amodilicationv wherein the terminal couplings 4 have the bushingsll formed integral therewi th.

with and the boss-arms 12 are dispensed In ltheir stead a washer 120,01? soft metal, preferably copper or aluminium, provided with bosses 12", is seated on the bushings 11a between the terminal coupling-arms and the web of the railway-rail. The terminal couplings in this construction are held tov lthe rails by bolts 13 in a similar manner to that hereinbefore described.

I have shown two conductors used in my bond,and prefer to use this number ordinarily, as it has been found to furnish satisfactory re- I do not limit myself to the use of any suits'.

Each terminal coupling 4: is provided with an arm 9, that contains an particular number of conductors` however, as

one or any greater number may be used.

By making the bushings 11, that are interposed between the terminal couplings and the rails to which the bonds are affixed, of a soft metal, preferably copper or aluminium, that is of slight resistance and yielding, it`will be seen that I am enabled to draw said bushings tightly intothe rails in suchmanner that they areclamped between the arms 9 of the couplings i and rails to secure the most efficient contact between the terminal couplings and the rails, this being particularly the result of the yielding nature of the soft metal of which the bushings are form ed.v The same applies to the washers l2, which are interposed between the terminal coupling-arms and the rails and are, like the bushings I1, of soft metal.

Iy claim as my inventionl.v In a railway-rail bond, the combination of a conductor, and chambered terminal couplings having pockets in the wall thereof adapted to receive a filling introduced to fill the 'chambers of the couplings, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth. A2. In a railway-rail bond, the combination of a conductor, terminal couplings provided with pockets and having chambers therein in communication with said pockets, anda softmetal filling in said terminal couplings in which said conductors are embedded, substantially as and vfor the purpose set forth.

3. In a railway-rail bond, the combination of a conductor, terminal couplings in which `said conductor is seated and held, bushings adapted for introduction into the webs of the railway-rails at the rear of said terminal coup-` lings, and bosses located between said terminal couplings and the webs of the rails, substantially as described.

4. Ina railway-rail bond, the combination of a'conducto'r, terminal couplings inwhich said conductor is seated and held, arms carried, by said terminal couplings, bushings positioned'insaid arms and adapted to enter the Webs ofthe railway-rails, and means for attaching saidterminal couplings and bushings-to said railewebs, substantially as described.

\ 5,. In a railway-rail bond, the combination of a conductor, terlninal couplings in which said conductor is seated and held, arms car ried by said terminal couplings,bushings having tapered ends adapted t-o seat in said arms and in said rail-webs, and bosses carried by said bushings positioned between said coupling-arms and said rail-webs, substantially as described.

EDWARD vI). FREDERICK.

In presence of E. S. KNIGHT, M. P. SMITH.

IOO

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